Calling all aspiring impact investors and civic entrepreneurs! If you’re excited to build your investment skills and help find the next generation of progressive changemakers, we’ve got an opportunity for you. New Media Ventures (NMV) is hiring a Summer Investment Associate to help our investment team find, fund, and support early-stage innovators at the nexus of media, technology, and politics. We’re looking for an MBA student (current or recent graduate) or someone with relevant experience who can help us evaluate startups, explore new areas of diligence to refine our investment approach, and support our portfolio of 70+ startups. This is a full-time role based in Oakland, CA that can be done remotely and is a perfect fit for anyone seeking impact investing experience.
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New Media Ventures (NMV) is a mission-driven venture fund and investor network that invests in entrepreneurs and activists wrestling with the biggest challenges facing our democracy. We work to shift power to benefit more people, and look to find, finance, and support companies and organizations that are telling new stories, building advocacy movements, and driving civic engagement. In the past 7 years, we have supported over 70 startups, from Upworthy and Blavity to Indivisible, Coworker and Vote.org. We invest early in both for-profits and nonprofits, offering seed stage support of $50-$250K. Last year, we invested in 13 startups as part of our most recent open call, and we’re looking to continue to understand and find the most innovative startups in our space. This month, we launched our 2019 open call and are excited for another cohort of startups!
Our open calls continue to confirm that innovation is alive and well in the space and we are excited to work with a Summer Investment Associate to dive deeper into understanding where the next set of innovation in the space may be and which startups are emerging that we may be positioned to support. The Summer Investment Associate will help us research topic areas for due diligence, sit in on pitch meetings with startups, evaluate potential investments, and support our portfolio. We are interested in someone with passion and experience helping early-stage startups grow, and envision the Summer Investment Associate proactively thinking through ways we can refine our understanding of investment opportunities ahead of our next open call. This is a great opportunity to roll up your sleeves and get practical early stage impact venture experience.
The application deadline for this role is February 24, 2019; we particularly encourage people who are underrepresented in the investment and startup space to apply. We strive for equity and inclusion and recognize there are a variety of perspectives and experiences that can be valuable for our work.
Position Description
Location for this position is flexible and can be based in the Bay Area (the NMV office is in Oakland, CA) or remote.
The Summer Investment Associate will:
- Conduct in-depth research on emerging areas of investment opportunity at the center of media, technology, and politics
- Synthesize findings to help refine our investment approach and understand market trends
- Participate in startup pitch meetings and NMV diligence discussions to help guide our investment decisions
- Deepen early-stage impact investing by contributing to NMV’s thought leadership
- Build personal brand and network by attending sector events with other founders, activists, and startups
- Track and analyze the impact of our portfolio
Candidate requirements:
- Committed to work full-time for NMV during Summer 2019
- Current (or recently graduated) MBA student, or an undergraduate student with equivalent experience looking for internships to pivot to a new sector
- Comfort with ambiguity and changing needs of startups and the Summer Investment Associate role
- A listening orientation; excited to patiently hear from startups and the NMV team and serve as a trusted and empathetic contributor
- Team player who is equally willing to think through the implications of emerging market trends on NMV’s investment approach or work through the minute tactics of portfolio data tracking
- Strong analytical skills
- Self-motivated problem-solver, organized and deadline-oriented
Candidate pluses:
- Experience with early-stage organizations, as an employee or consultant
- Investment (VC, PE, etc.) or grant-making experience
- Deep experience and network in the media, tech, and/or civic innovation spaces
- Direct experience working on social and environmental issues that NMV seeks to address, particularly those that affect underrepresented communities
- Access to a network of funders, founders, and other professionals that are excited and willing to support early-stage startups
What to expect from us:
- Up to $8K/month, commensurate with experience
- Behind-the-scenes access to the most inspiring startups working on civic innovation
- A team with a sense of justice, and a sense of humor
- A low-ego, high performance culture, with a collaborative and flexible work environment
We recommend checking-out the following information about our work:
- Landing page for our latest open call
- Blog post summarizing our 2018 open call
- Our Medium publication and Twitter
Ready to apply? Please fill out this form to upload a 1 page PDF resume and answer the following questions:
- Why are you interested in this position?
- Share a personal or professional experience you are particularly proud of and why you believe it positions you to succeed in this role.
- What is a startup we should invest in and why?
Apply by February 24, 2019.
If interested, please apply here.
